Singles: How often do you go to church?

[Lynx]

I go to church to give my part of the body and to glorify God. I don’t get a whole lot out of the sermon most Sundays. I love to worship
And I serve wherever there is a need. I don’t give to get but I always am blessed anyway, you know what I mean? I can confess to this: I have not wanted to church for over 50 years ( yes every single Sunday) but I go and am always glad that I did. We need to plug in, get to know people and trust that God has us where we need to be. What do I need? Somehow God knows what it is and keeps my cup overflowing.

Also howdy.

Also don't be a stranger.

Also I ate your chocolate in your absence. What was I supposed to do? It kept calling to me...

 

[Ablazing]

I totally understand.

It's just that...

I know a lot of strong Christians who have been faithful all their lives -- and they're still living pretty crappy lives right now, to no fault of their own (serious, uncurable, chronic-to-fatal illness, whether for them, or in family members.)

For many of the people I know, there's a feeling of, "It doesn't matter if I lived the way God wanted me to -- it's all gone to the dogs anyway" -- they're just trying to hold on.

And it's truly heartbreaking to see.

Agreed. I just listened to a sermon on that very thing.

 

[Ablazing]

Also howdy.

Also don't be a stranger.

Also I ate your chocolate in your absence. What was I supposed to do? It kept calling to me...

Ty for the welcome and don’t you worry about eating my chocolate. We won’t forget your indiscretion. *Gives an extra piece to Seoulsearch*

 

[seoulsearch]

Also howdy.

Also don't be a stranger.

Also I ate your chocolate in your absence. What was I supposed to do? It kept calling to me...

Oh goodness, @Ablazing.

I failed to warn you about the Forum Cat, and that you should probably hide any chocolate you might have.

Terribly sorry about that...

But I hope you'll stick around anyways! (We try to keep him under control, but you know how cats can be!)

 

[Lynx]

Oh goodness, @Ablazing.

I failed to warn you about the Forum Cat, and that you should probably hide any chocolate you might have.

Terribly sorry about that...

But I hope you'll stick around anyways! (We try to keep him under control, but you know how cats can be!)

Fret not for the equanimity of Ablazing. She was here, I think, when I started on this forum. She knows what to expect outta me.

 

[passion84god]

I should mention, for the record, that back in 2014 when I joined the forum, some people asked if I had been here before. They said I had a familiar style. It was probably because I was conversant with forums in general.

I appreciate you saying this, but no one will have to worry about my style anymore. I put in a request to have my account here cancelled earlier today, so I imagine that will happen shortly. Before I go, I want to reiterate that I am sorry about your Dad's declining health. God bless him and you.​

 

[seoulsearch]

I appreciate you saying this, but no one will have to worry about my style anymore. I put in a request to have my account here cancelled earlier today, so I imagine that will happen shortly. Before I go, I want to reiterate that I am sorry about your Dad's declining health. God bless him and you.​

I'm very sorry to hear this, but understand and respect your decision.

May God bless you and keep you.

 

[cinder]

I totally understand.

It's just that...

I know a lot of strong Christians who have been faithful all their lives -- and they're still living pretty crappy lives right now, to no fault of their own (serious, uncurable, chronic-to-fatal illness, whether for them, or in family members.)

For many of the people I know, there's a feeling of, "It doesn't matter if I lived the way God wanted me to -- it's all gone to the dogs anyway" -- they're just trying to hold on.

And it's truly heartbreaking to see.

And we no longer talk about john the baptist sitting in jail, sending friends to ask Jesus if he was the expected one. And Jesus says to go tell john about all the big miracles and that good news is preached to the poor. And to tell him blessed is the one who doesn't fall away ( or isn't offended) because of me.

And I think part of that is because Jesus knows that John isn't getting a miracle. There's no divine rescue coming despite John's life of service. Faith for John (and many of the prophets, and many of our persecuted brothers and sisters around the world) is believing that God himself is reward enough.

 

[Lynx]

And we no longer talk about john the baptist sitting in jail, sending friends to ask Jesus if he was the expected one. And Jesus says to go tell john about all the big miracles and that good news is preached to the poor. And to tell him blessed is the one who doesn't fall away ( or isn't offended) because of me.

And I think part of that is because Jesus knows that John isn't getting a miracle. There's no divine rescue coming despite John's life of service. Faith for John (and many of the prophets, and many of our persecuted brothers and sisters around the world) is believing that God himself is reward enough.

John the Baptist was one of my favorites. When he was looking at his death he didn't ask for a longer life. His main question was, "Did I get it right?" That's the question Jesus answered, with a demonstration.

 

[Churchgoer]

This point of view carries the inherent assumption that the church is a corporate entity - like a grocery store or barbershop, a place you go to get something.

My church is more like a group of people who formed a group to patrol the neighborhood or maintain the city park: we are trying to do something to help the people in this area, because they are our neighbors, we have something they need and we want them to have it too.

I run the church sound booth because I want the service to sound good. I vacuum the floor because I want it to look nice. I pay tithes because I want the air conditioner to have power and the church bus to have gas.

People come to our church needing God, and we can show them the way to find God. I want that to keep going. So I keep doing these things, because I want them to be done.

You are the church, I am the church, we are the church.

 

[seoulsearch]

And I think part of that is because Jesus knows that John isn't getting a miracle. There's no divine rescue coming despite John's life of service. Faith for John (and many of the prophets, and many of our persecuted brothers and sisters around the world) is believing that God himself is reward enough.

Wow.

This is such a hard-hitting post -- I'm definitely bookmarking this.

I've often thought about how Peter must have felt when his death came -- FOR REAL this time.

After all, he was once rescued from his prison cell by an angel -- and it seemed so surreal that even Peter himself thought he was dreaming!!

So I often wonder how Peter must have felt in his last days before he was finally executed. Did he think to himself, "Maybe the Lord will rescue me again?!" Who wouldn't think that after receiving such a miracle!!! Was he disappointed this time that no divine intervention came?!

However, I suspect that if tradition is accurate and Peter really did tell the soldiers to crucify him upside down (saying he wasn't worthy of being crucified in the same manner as his Lord,) I would guess that Peter was at a point in his life where he truly didn't mind finally going home, no matter how terrifying the send-off was.

But if we think about it in modern terms...

When we hear about tumors that miraculously disappeared -- what happened when the REAL illness or condition showed up that finally ended the person's life? Did the person think, "Oh no, the Lord is going to heal this, just like before!"?

And how did they feel when this time was different -- and no divine healing showed up?

How did Lazarus feel knowing that Jesus had traveled all that way and gone through all that trouble to raise him from the dead -- only for him to one day truly die like anyone else?

I realize that in order to spread the faith, preachers often have to "sell" the faith -- commercialize it just enough to get everyone excited enough to walk through the doors (and hopefully, give money.)

Henceforth, the prosperity gospels of how if you just believe in Jesus, life is going to be wonderful. God has a special plan for you -- surely you're a spiritual giant in the making. He'll pick out the perfect spouse for you, bless you with a full quiver of loving, obedient children who will dote on you through your death, God will multiply your finances, and everything is going to be peachy keen from now on -- if you just have enough faith and just obey.

I wonder what would happen if preachers taught the parts of the Bible we're talking about here -- where no divine miracle showed up, and for whatever reason, God allowed the worst of the worst to happen.

If church attendance is low now, would it completely collapse if the preachers taught the more realistic parts of the Bible?

 

[Churchgoer]

Wow.

This is such a hard-hitting post -- I'm definitely bookmarking this.

I've often thought about how Peter must have felt when his death came -- FOR REAL this time.

After all, he was once rescued from his prison cell by an angel -- and it seemed so surreal that even Peter himself thought he was dreaming!!

So I often wonder how Peter must have felt in his last days before he was finally executed. Did he think to himself, "Maybe the Lord will rescue me again?!" Who wouldn't think that after receiving such a miracle!!! Was he disappointed this time that no divine intervention came?!

However, I suspect that if tradition is accurate and Peter really did tell the soldiers to crucify him upside down (saying he wasn't worthy of being crucified in the same manner as his Lord,) I would guess that Peter was at a point in his life where he truly didn't mind finally going home, no matter how terrifying the send-off was.

But if we think about it in modern terms...

When we hear about tumors that miraculously disappeared -- what happened when the REAL illness or condition showed up that finally ended the person's life? Did the person think, "Oh no, the Lord is going to heal this, just like before!"?

And how did they feel when this time was different -- and no divine healing showed up?

How did Lazarus feel knowing that Jesus had traveled all that way and gone through all that trouble to raise him from the dead -- only for him to one day truly die like anyone else?

I realize that in order to spread the faith, preachers often have to "sell" the faith -- commercialize it just enough to get everyone excited enough to walk through the doors (and hopefully, give money.)

Henceforth, the prosperity gospels of how if you just believe in Jesus, life is going to be wonderful. God has a special plan for you -- surely you're a spiritual giant in the making. He'll pick out the perfect spouse for you, bless you with a full quiver of loving, obedient children who will dote on you through your death, God will multiply your finances, and everything is going to be peachy keen from now on -- if you just have enough faith and just obey.

I wonder what would happen if preachers taught the parts of the Bible we're talking about here -- where no divine miracle showed up, and for whatever reason, God allowed the worst of the worst to happen.

If church attendance is low now, would it completely collapse if the preachers taught the more realistic parts of the Bible?

Preacher job is faithfully teaching scripture.
Church attendance is in God's hand.

Every one is put on their royle position to do God's work. Don't worry the result. The final result is heaven, eternal life.

 

[Levib]

Faith for John (and many of the prophets, and many of our persecuted brothers and sisters around the world) is believing that God himself is reward enough.

I often fight myself because there are many, many times I don't want to go to church

Two scriptures that keep me going, from Jesus. 1) Store up treasure in heaven where it cannot decay. 2) Where your treasure is, your heart will be also.

Hoping one day my treasure is enough I’ll wake up wanting to go. Until then I will go out of duty.

Romans 12:1 KJVS
I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service.

 

[Tom-]

Hello everybody! Im single but have 3 children its 50/50 with rotating weekends. Sundays I have them we all go in the morning and will attend the Sunday evening fellowship at a members home if we dont have plans. Having children makes it quite easy for me to say gotta go! And we leave with no questions asked. Sundays without my children are no different accept for the expectation I put on myself to do more help more etc etc. In my experience my church doesn't have a singles focused area. Were a smaller congregation so im sure thats a factor. We have maybe 15-20 attending members and 8 are single including myself. Honestly the focus is what the pastor is preaching to us. My pastor and another member are planning a golf outing. anyone who wants to go can go.

I believe if I felt my church was expecting more of me because im single and they assume I am willing to do extra work I would pray about it. I try to remember to ask God "how can I see you in this" or "what are you teaching me through this" His will not mine.

 

[Lanolin]

What sort of work does the church expect you to do?
I mean list all the jobs/tasks. I just want to see if it's the burden is being placed on you too much. A lot of churches, well most have rosters.

eg

ushering
greeting
prayer team
morning tea
vacuuming
cleaning bathroom
flowers
tidy bookshelves
washing dishes
gardening
counting tithes
reading scripture
putting chairs out/away
setting tables
baking bread
manning charity shop
distributing food
collecting donations
moving cones for the carpark
lighting candles
cleaning the baptism pool
tuning the church piano
printing the church newsletters/bulletins
collecting food scraps for compost
recycling
operating the toy library
changing the lightbulbs
baking the hot cross buns
washing the stained glassed windows
coming up with witty church signs each week....

 

[Churchgoer]

What sort of work does the church expect you to do?
I mean list all the jobs/tasks. I just want to see if it's the burden is being placed on you too much. A lot of churches, well most have rosters.

eg

ushering
greeting
prayer team
morning tea
vacuuming
cleaning bathroom
flowers
tidy bookshelves
washing dishes
gardening
counting tithes
reading scripture
putting chairs out/away
setting tables
baking bread
manning charity shop
distributing food
collecting donations
moving cones for the carpark
lighting candles
cleaning the baptism pool
tuning the church piano
printing the church newsletters/bulletins
collecting food scraps for compost
recycling
operating the toy library
changing the lightbulbs
baking the hot cross buns
washing the stained glassed windows
coming up with witty church signs each week....

According to one's faith level, talent... usually a leader will approach you to ask if you are interested in serving certain area.
Or when church is asking help in certain area, you can suggest yourself and see if they pick you.